Woman steals from elderly man

September 27, 2010

Police arrested a woman Saturday after she allegedly stole money from an elderly man and bracelets from a pawn shop.
Natasha Marie Chafin, 21, of Taylorsville, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, breaking and entering from a motor vehicle, two counts of larceny, carrying concealed weapons, possession of a schedule 4 controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to Hickory Police, Chafin walked into the Insta-Cash Pawn and Jewelry, located at 1511 Highland Ave. in Hickory, about 12:15 p.m. Saturday and looked at a diamond ring. She tried to buy the ring with a credit card issued to someone else, and the clerk asked her for another payment type. Chafin told the clerk she would come back. When she returned from the store, she allegedly stole five gold bracelets, valued at more than $1,000, from inside a jewelry case.
A store employee followed Chafin to the parking lot, where she almost ran over the man twice as she attempted to back out. The employee wrote down Chafin’s license plate number, and reported it to the authorities. Police located Chafin several blocks away at about 1 p.m. on Second Avenue NW.
Police recovered the stolen bracelets and also seized other items inside Chafin’s car. Those items included eight syringes, a set of metal knuckles, Xanax medication, a GPS unit, an iPod and other miscellaneous receipts. Also included in Chafin’s car was property that allegedly belonged to Robert E. Lee Herman, 80, of Hickory, which included a wallet and a $5,000 cashier’s check.
Herman told police he didn’t know of anything stolen from him, but he gave a description of Chafin and asked if she was the woman police had in custody.
According to Hickory Police, Chafin went into Herman’s home Saturday and asked Herman’s wife for a glass of water. Herman’s wife gave Chafin the water and told her to keep the glass. Chafin left and returned to the home a short time later to give back the glass. Herman’s wife was in the shower, and Herman said he spoke with Chafin for a few minutes before she left again.
Chafin was transported to Catawba County jail under a $75,000 bond.